‘They netted Rs 5 crore from 700 fake degrees’

The fake degreeracket unearthed in the city on Monday is reported to be worth at least Rs 5 crore, with desperate buyers shelling out anything between Rs 40,000 and Rs 80,000 each for the bogus document.

“If we assume that each degree was sold for Rs 40,000, the 380 recovered so far were worth over Rs 1.5 crore. Rates were finalized depending on the varsity and course. For instance, if a specific degree of Panjab University cost Rs 75,000, the same one of Patna University was available for Rs 40,000-50,000,” said Anil Joshi, deputy superintendent of police ( CID). He added that the arrested gang members had confessed to having sold 500 to 700 degrees over the last few months, taking the cash involved in the racket to Rs 5 crore.